章 940: 10
Chapter 10: Valley of DespairChapter Text
Much like the Trials before I am lead to an area I have never entered in the village. Instead of the top of the village where the first took place, this one takes place at the bottom of the valley below. I hesitate to say I am prepared for certain yet I can't help the feelings of confidence that well up as we approach the site. I used to think I knew what strength was but with the clarity of mind came clarity of knowledge. Objectively, in this village, I am strong. I glance at the Elder, even without seeing his Ki I will defeat him.
The two of us have suppressed and hidden our Ki since he returned, neither wishing to allow the other to know the depths of our Ki, to lose that edge. Compared to our last battle five years ago I have grown leaps and bounds. I find myself wondering if he managed to improve enough to challenge me. He's stood in my way for so long that I would be upset if he was too weak. How could I find joy in his final moments of suffering if he was too weak to put up a fight?
I expect he will have some tricks up his sleeve. The scrolls he gave me to study were pathetic after all and if that is the accumulated knowledge of the village then it should have died out long ago. That was another thing I pondered in my years of training, the stagnation present in the village. It had to be the Elder causing it nothing else made sense. How could you have a society stuck in one place for eternity without them attempting to advance the quality of their lives? Instead, they toiled in a routine that no one other than myself seems content to leave.
The nail that stands out gets hammered down.
We stop outside a gate with a set of winding stairs leading to the valley floor, a thick fog rolls and billows across the steps, obscuring the valley proper. It's deep is all I can tell from here. The fog is eerie, almost unnatural, an ill omen for this venture.
I look to the Elder for my instructions, "Go forth into the valley. Find the relic of the ancestor and return."
Okay? That was a shitty explanation. I wait for more but that is clearly all I'm getting. Huffing I traverse the path downward. As I go deeper the fog gets thicker. Every step grabs more light from my eyes as it's swallowed by the dense haze. Along with the loss of sight comes a profound feeling of hatred brushing my senses.
Hours later I'm still traveling downward having crossed and turned through the mountainside when the gloom clears. I nearly stumble as my eyes have to adjust again, the valley being lit by dark flames dotting the landscape interspersed by flows of lava. Ash coats the ground and chokes at the air. 'Plants' of black crystal in bushes and trees litter the walls, pillars, and ground.
Even with the light from the fires and lava visibility is still poor. Not wanting to be caught unaware I open my senses to the Ki of the world. At that moment my legs buckle as a weight unimaginable presses down on me. I grip my horns as pain rakes and claws at my mind, so great is the malice in this place. Before it can overwhelm me I shove the Ki outside my body, pushing with a portion of my own, and slam down on my lifeforce with an iron grip preventing any outside influence.
Shaking I slowly stand, continuing my trek to the bottom. Until I acclimate to this environment, so full of hatred, I won't be able to draw in external Ki. On the other hand, the natural Ki here is extremely dense and chock full of malice, ideal for my body refinement and Senjutsu in general. I can see why this place was chosen for the future Sages of the village.
As I get within a hundred feet of the bottom I begin to see shapes moving across the valley, too dark to make out from here but of similar size to a person. The bottom of the steps set down at one end of the massive cavern. I can't see a 'relic' being anywhere but at the opposite end of the valley, lest any real challenge is avoided by luck.
Since the area seems to be lacking in food, I will need to stay moving towards my goal. Other than the figures I saw from above there aren't any plants or lifeforms I saw. I can't use my Ki sense to check or I'll be pulled under by the torrent of Ki again. Body Refinement has lessened my food requirements so I can survive for a few weeks if need be but I don't know the size of the valley or the number of obstacles. I have my work ahead of me.
Moving towards a crystal tree I channel 'sword intent', as I've taken to calling it, into a claw. Dragging it across I'm surprised to see only a shallow indentation rather than a deep gouge. Are these trees a medium that channels Ki from the environment to increase their resilience? If so is this an organic crystalline structure?
My training and heightened senses are all that allows me to duck in time as a dark form leaps through where my head just was. My feet dig in and kicking hard I launch myself backward creating distance. Before I land I hear a sound like glass shattering as the tree from before breaks apart due to my assailant's collision.
A disgusting crunching sound echoes through the area and looking up I see the figure, another Oni, munching on the crystal with madness in its eyes. Growths of crystal are ripping through her skin, bursting out in clusters all across her body. A dark black haze seeps out of the crystals and her pores but even with my Ki sense locked down I know, it's Ki leaking out. How much Ki does she have to let it leak out and form a physical cloak?
"Are you all right? Who are you?" The girl's, no the beast's, head snaps up at my query and growls crushing the crystal in its hand reducing it to powder. It roars as it realizes it destroyed its snack and pounces again. This time I have time to draw my sword.
Swinging it in a wide arc in front of me I coat it in sword intent. The beast punches the air to the side compressing it and managing to knock it off the course of my blade. It sails past me and lands dragging its hands and feet along the ground creating large trenches. As it stands again I watch the crystals grind and tear at the skin. She continues unbothered as wounds open dripping blood before rapidly closing once more.
Seeing no intelligence or comprehension in its eyes I move on the offensive this exchange. I slash down, sword biting into its shoulder before it jolts to a stop. I slice backward to remove the sword and see the black crystal covering the bone under her injury.
The beast growls lowly causing me to smile, it's been a while since I've truly fought. As its muscles twitch I surge forward, meeting it in the middle. It aims for the throat, just like an animal. Batting the offending limb away with some effort I stab forward into its stomach. Pivoting and twisting my hips I rip my sword out its side and avoid the second set of claws. Continuing the rotation I drive my elbow into the other side and push.
The deranged Oni folds around my elbow as blood flows quicker out its wound. Yet even this seals up. As it crashes into the far wall I watch it amused. It lacks any technique but has an abundance of power. Eyes narrowing I see that the crystals on its body are growing at a visible rate now.
I see, so it's like that.
Sheathing my sword since speed will be more beneficial, I coat my claws in sword intent. As the beast rushes me I wait calmly for my moment. Once in range, it lashes out and I slide around the blow raking my claws across its back as it passes.
It roars in fury turning to attack again but I'm already there. I shove my claws into its chest grabbing its beating heart and pull. The pain breaks through its expression of anger momentarily stunning it and with my other hand, I strike it in the chest hard with my palm, shoving it off my arm.
Hopefully, that one was the weakest I think as I crush the organ in my hand. A grisly spray of blood and viscera erupting as I do so. I saw more shapes, one will give me a good fight right?
As I've progressed through the valley the Oni have gotten faster, stronger, and worst of all smarter. Not actual intellect but a cruel animal cunning honed to a ridiculous level. The two I'm currently fighting even decided to work together. The ones that eat more crystal grow past the level of the other ones becoming better, growing denser patches of crystal on their bodies. My current hypothesis is that either they were driven mad by the environmental Ki, by eating the crystal or, a combination of the two.
I've been alternating between my sword and claws, not wanting to become too comfortable with either or lose skill in the other. Gripping the horns of the smaller Oni I throw it into the larger. They can't pierce my skin with their claws but bruises have bloomed across my body from the impacts of their fists and feet. Sweaty and sore I can't help but bare my teeth, in a crude facsimile of a smile, this is fun even if I'm technically not winning yet.
Running at them till I'm within a few feet I jump towards the wall and kick off it. Rotating at my hips I feel my abs flex to draw more power from my core as I send my foot screaming at the larger Oni's head. I pull on a trickle of the Ki in the air around us and empower my kick separating the Oni's head from its torso.
The Ki here is still incredibly difficult to use but it's caused me to become efficient in its usage. A small burst or a spark of Ki doing the same as a flood before. I still need to be careful and refine the Ki I absorb as it still pollutes my mind if I let it build too high in its raw form.
Landing in a roll I turn to the other and lean, to avoid the fist rocketing towards my jaw. I slide my right foot backward and lift my left foot over the leg sweep before lashing out with that same left foot into its core. Blood drips out its mouth as it growls in pain. Bringing my leg back down, my muscles coil at the ready. A drop of Ki works to my foot as it twitches downward, cracking the ground a propelling me forward. Aligning my body to transmit the most force I slam my right palm into its head hearing the cartilage in its nose crush followed by its skull. The Oni's eyes pop under the pressure and the bone shards are propelled into its brain. It dies instantly after contact.
I sit down, uncaring of the puddles of blood on the ground. It's been two weeks that I've been traveling through here but from the looks of things, I'm approaching the end of the chasm. I gently draw back on my restraint and Ki starts to trickle then flow into me. I grit my teeth and spread it throughout my body breaking it down more, around half goes to my dantian and I begin to refine it. Shutting the flow down I sit in pain until the Ki is refined then use this pure Ki to heal.
This method allows me to heal myself and make it worthwhile when I do so. My Ki use, the strength of my body, and my sword intent have progressed quickly in this valley. I've actually enjoyed myself, Valley of Despair seems to be a misnomer. I can see how others would despair here though.
Once healed and with my will reaffirmed, I march forward.
What I found when I reached the end of the valley was a clearing covered in lush grass, seemingly untouched by the fires and lava flows that plagued the rest of the valley. Circling the clearing are crystal trees like before but rather than black they glow softly in brilliant shades of white and gold. In the center of the clearing is a pillar of black rock etched with kanji and at the far end is a cave.
There's no doubt to me that this is the place I'm supposed to find, given how much it stands out compared to the rest of the environment. As I enter the clearing, passing through the ring of trees, the oppressive feeling is washed away. The Ki in this clearing being so gentle allows me to open my Ki sense again. The rock formation in the center is drawing in the Ki and filtering it before pumping the malice out into the valley. The crystals themselves act as generators of Ki, absorbing it from deep within the earth and releasing it on the surface. In the center of the pillar is the densest congregation of hatred I've ever felt, being magnitudes greater than the weight outside.
Ignoring that for now, I instead focus on my goal, I approach the cave. I create a flame in my hand to light the way and head down. That cave gets persistently darker as I travel, the shadows seeking to snuff out the fire in my hand. I use more Youki the further I go to maintain the flame. I feel nothing in my Ki sense but at the edge of my awareness, I imagine I'm being watched, judged.
My flame reaches the peak of what I've been able to achieve and I can make out a flowing wall of darkness in front of me. It hurts to look at and feels wrong on so many levels but doesn't feel dangerous. Gathering my courage I plunge through, void rippling around me.
I land with a splash after falling a foot or two. Under my feet, there's a crunch and I hear something shatter in the water. Looking down I realize that it isn't water but blood and the noise came from a skull that was crushed under my feet.
The blood is like an ocean stretching around without end and in the sky gleams a black sun wreathed in grey flame, somehow radiating darkness across the entire sky. In the middle of this shrouded world is something I remember from a dream that had long been pushed to the back of my memories.
On a rocky outcropping sits a man, no a demon, an Oni, the original Ibaraki-Douji.
He locks eyes with me and grips his sword. Golden eyes gleaming, he smiles.
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